Comments on: Update: Bank robbery at Alaska USA inside Westwood Village QFC

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:35:45 +0000

I used to work for a “major financial institution” that has a branch on California and Admiral. When I worked for them, the internal talk was that it was the most robbed bank in Washington at the time. I have been looking for documentation to support that but have been unable to find anything, so its just hearsay, take it for what you will. I did find this for anyone interested…..
http://www.popcenter.org/problems/robbery_banks/2

By: brokeasajoke

brokeasajoke — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:31:43 +0000

Meth capital of theworld is in Hawaii by the way..

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:04:39 +0000

Isn’t bank robbery a Federal crime? If so, I wonder what the statistics are regarding bank robberies in the US by state, city, etc.? It SEEMS like West Seattle gets hit by bank robbers every few weeks… I wonder if we’re really experiencing more of these crimes than the rest of Seattle, or if it only seems so b/c we have the WSB reporting crime in more “real time” fashion?
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Times are hard. We also live in the Meth Capitol of the World (well, adjacent to it anyway – hello Pierce County!). People do stupid and dangerous sh*t when they’re desperate and/or strung out.
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A beefed up police presence in WS probably wouldn’t be a bad idea; but then it’s always seemed paltry to me (as an LA Girl I’m often shocked at how rarely you aee cops here in Seattle given our issues in the city with gangs, homelessness & drugs).
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Makes ya not want to go INTO a WS bank, that’s for sure.

By: ad

ad — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:21:09 +0000

Alki resident- I agree. Wonder if we should talk to a branch manager?

By: Alki Resident

Alki Resident — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:43:48 +0000

I still cant understand why the Admiral Bank of America doesnt have safety glass.Occasionally they hire a security guard but is it really a good idea to keep risking these tellers lives and the customers by “saving “money and not having the glass installed instead?Enough is enough in our community.

By: Todd_

Todd_ — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:14:01 +0000

Does anyone know if the man/woman who robbed the Key Bank in the Junction a few months ago, has been caught?

By: christopherboffoli

christopherboffoli — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:18:36 +0000

bridge to somewhere: I think a Wild West response (a shoot-out or car chase) is exactly what law enforcement is trying to avoid. When the Junction Neighborhood Organization brought up the subject of bank robberies with SPD Officer Tom Burns last May, he said that the issues of drug abuse and bank robberies are closely related… that the banks in the Junction and in the Admiral district are prime robbery candidates because you can get on the West Seattle Bridge quickly and be gone.
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He went on to say that essentially 99% of bank robbers are caught because, since most of them are drug addicts, investigators can usually look at the amount of money that was stolen and calculate when the robbers will strike again based on the burn rate of how quickly they’ll go through the money buying drugs. Additional patrols can be put in place on the days that police determine that robbers will return. He said repeat offenders have a declining success rate: “90% the first time, 50% the first time and 10% the third time.”

By: Garden_nymph

Garden_nymph — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:08:47 +0000

Per The Blotter in the Seattle Times, a US Bank was robbed in Redmond last Friday. It looks like the same set up as the Alaska Credit Union in our QFC. They released a picture. Does anyone know of there will be a photo released in this case? The Alaska Credit Union branch has cameras…

By: bridge to somewhere

bridge to somewhere — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:54:58 +0000

The fact that someone can not only walk into a bank–but a bank inside a supermarket–and rob it and not get caught demonstrates a perception criminals seem to have of West Seattle lately: that they aren’t going to get caught by the police if they commit a crime here. Now, I think it’s too easy to always blame the police for everything, but it’s also hard to argue with the fact that criminals are getting more brazen here in West Seattle. Two robberies at the same bank in Westwood Village in less than a year? And another robbery at Chase also in Westwood Village within that same year? It seems that people perceive this little corner of Seattle was a wild wild West.

By: BBGuest

BBGuest — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:20:02 +0000

Holden and Delridge, 7 cruisers and man in handcuffs. About 2:45 PM. Could this be related?

By: brokeasajoke

brokeasajoke — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:00:04 +0000

The way the suckazz economy is going, I’m surprised there isn’t more of them happening. Ca$h is king! Credit sure isn’t anymore. Wait unitl they totally stop unemployment extentions..

By: Silly Goose

Silly Goose — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:28:27 +0000

Sue I agree with you, Chase finally installed these glass walls after being robbed mulitple times.
In centeral america you are greeted with an armed guard at the entrance of every bank, he opens the door for you into a small enclosed glass lobby area, an armed guard on the inside opens the interior doors for you, and then once inside elevated above the bank floor is an armed guard in an bullet proof cage if you will watching over everyone. It was a little nerve wrecking but their banks are almost never robbed and if they are the robber never leaves without capture. We need to follow this type of security with our banks!!

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:22:23 +0000

Carson, I didn’t realize that – every bank I’ve personally had dealings with since moving here have been the more open design, so I assumed most were like that.

By: Carson

Carson — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:04:05 +0000

Sue,

Many banks have the glass, most of the Chase locations (Admiral, Junction) have glass for one. I think banks feel the added cost of the glass and the less open they are justifies the insurance they pay anyways to cover a robbery here and there.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:58:49 +0000

When I moved here from NYC, I was shocked at how open the banks were – back east the tellers are encased in bulletproof glass from floor to ceiling. There is no open contact with anyone who has money – keeps the tellers safe and the money much less likely to be stolen. Might sound drastic and impersonal, but it might be time to start considering this here in general in banks.